Siblings involved in assault case

Humboldt County Sheriff's deputies arrested a 36-year-old woman in McKinleyville in the early hours of Friday morning on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after she reportedly rammed her older brother's pickup truck with her own while he backed out of his driveway.

At about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, deputies responded to a report of an assault with a vehicle at a McKinleyville residence on the 1100 block of Vista Drive.

The 39-year-old victim told deputies his sister, Renea Soderberg, was a transient who occasionally slept in his garage, and was drinking alcohol and grew angry with him after he told her friends to leave his residence.

Soderberg reportedly yelled at her brother as he backed out of his driveway in his 2012 Ford F-350 pickup truck. Soon after, the victim told deputies, Soderberg entered her 1998 Chevy Silverado pickup truck and accelerated into his driver's side door.

Sheriff's Office Lt. Steve Knight said a witness who lived in the area reportedly saw the suspect hit the victim's vehicle four times. Deputies, unable to locate the suspect at the time, reported finding an approximately four inch deep dent in the driver's side door and found damage on the victim's lawn caused by the suspect's spinning tires.

Knight said the suspect's abandoned vehicle was spotted by responding officers en route to the scene, and that damage on the truck was consistent with the victim's account.

Deputies later responding to reports of a suspicious woman on the 1100 block of Vista Drive at about 2:30 a.m. Friday arrested Renea Soderberg on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and transported her to the Humboldt County jail, where correctional officers reported finding a small bag of methamphetamine on her body as she was booked. She was then booked for possession of an illegal drug as well, and her bail was set at $50,000.

The sheriff's office asks anyone with information regarding this case or related criminal activity to call the sheriff's office at 445-7251 or the sheriff's office crime tip line at 268-2539.